Deep Sea Sonic
by StoryWolf
Summary: A trail of gold followed him as he past through the atmosphere. Sonic's eyes widened as he looked toward Mobius and realized where he was going to crash…in the middle of the open ocean!
1. Chapter 1

_**Deep Sea Sonic**_

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><p><em><strong>Prologue:<strong>_

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><p>"Honestly Eggy, I really thought you would be more creative than this." The golden hedgehog looked at the mangled mess of metal that the insane doctor was trying to keep aloft. The golden energy that surrounded the hedgehog swirled like fire as he shrugged. "I mean seriously, <em>another <em>Death Egg? That was the best you could come up with?"

The mad scientist waved his fist at him in anger. "You pest! Look what you did to my Death Egg 2!"

"Yeah, it still looks like the same scrap heap I trashed the first time." Sonic said with a smirk. He then raised one of his eyebrows as he continued. "You usually at least come up with something a little interesting, but this…this is just boring."

"What?" The mustached doctor yelled as smoke was almost coming out of his ears. "You want more excitement? Then here! Take this!"

Eggman pushed a button on the control panel and the massive base launched a missile strike against Sonic. But the super powered hedgehog simply destroyed them with no effort. He then shot the doctor a slightly annoyed look. "Really? That's it? Like I said, _boorring_."

"Why you-!" Eggman's yell was interrupted as the Death Egg 2 began to break apart. "Damn, I better get out of here." The mustached doctor then made it to his Egg-mobile and took off.

Sonic then rolled his eyes, "And here we go, Egghead takes off and leaves me to clean up the mess."

The massive moon sized base threatened to crash into Mobius as it entered the atmosphere. The golden hedgehog raised one of his arms and muttered. "Chaos Control."

The Death Egg simply disappeared as soon as the Chaos Energy hit it. It had been four years since the first time he had ever used Chaos Energy, so he was used to channeling it by now. "Well, guess that's that."

Suddenly, Sonic felt himself falling backward. "Hmm? What's goin' on? I can't be running out of Chaos Energy already."

Just after that last thought, Sonic's fur color began to change from brilliant gold to his normal azure blue. "Oh snap."

As the energy began to leave him, he began to lose altitude and fell back toward Mobius from the stratus sphere. _Shit! Come on, this can't be happening. _

A trail of gold followed him as he past through the atmosphere. Sonic's eyes widened as he looked toward Mobius and realized where he was going to crash…in the middle of the open ocean!

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><p><strong><em>Chapter 1<em>**

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><p>"Ugh…Wha?…I'm alive?…"<p>

As Sonic's eyes began to focus, he realized where he really was…he was still under the water! "Gahh!"

Out of instinct, he covered his mouth and held his breath. He looked up and could see the surface of the ocean above him, the sunshine just barely peaking through from the outside. _Wait…when I just woke up…I was breathing… But…how…? _

His gaze drifted down toward his legs and he was completely shocked to see that instead of his legs…he had a tailfin! "Wah! What the hell?"

Realizing that he took a breath in of water again, he covered his mouth. _I'm dreaming…that's it…that's gotta be it. I probably crashed on an island somewhere and I'm knocked out or something…_

The hedgehog then pinched himself, "Ouch!" _Okay, not dreaming. _

Sonic was so freaked out by all this that he didn't notice a shadow lurking in the dark watery deeps around him.

He was trying to keep himself calm. _Okay Sonic, now get a-!_

In that instant, something grabbed the distressed hedgehog and turned him around. "Gah!"

To his surprise the stranger then kissed him. Now with his eyes focused on what was going on, he realized that he was face to face with a female Merhog, an ocean dwelling hedgehog that lives in the deepest parts of the Mobian ocean.

The beautiful violet colored Merhog opened her eyes and jumped when she saw Sonic. "Ahh!" She then let him go and backed up, her blue eyes were wide eyed and she blushed with embarrassment. "Oh Chaos, I'm so sorry. I thought you were someone else."

Sonic, being a guy, was still kind of stuck on what had just happened. He then thought to himself… _I wish I was '__**Someone Else' **__right now._

"Hey, you okay?"

Noticing that she was trying to get his attention, Sonic shook it off. "Huh? Oh, right (clears throat) I'm fine."

"Good, I'm Marlina."

"Nice to meet ya, Mar. I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog."

The female merhog's eyes opened wide. "Hedgehog? I've never heard of a hedgehog before. You look like a merhog to me."

"He he, well I don't normally look like this. It's been a crazy day for me."

The merhog gave Sonic a confusing look, but there was a bit of curiosity in her eyes as well. "So, where are you from?"

"Well, no where in particular. I have a quick way of getting around." He then began to laugh.

"So you're a traveler, huh?" Marlina seemed even more curious than before. Her eyes then showed a little bit of worry. "You don't travel on your own, do you?"

"Um yeah, most of the time…you've never heard of me, have you?"

The merhog then tilted her head in slight confusion. "No, should I?"

"Wow…um, how do I explain this?…You see," Sonic looked up toward the surface of the water as he continued. "Where I'm from, nothing else can keep up with me- at least not under they're own power-"

Suddenly, Marlina's eyes widened and she interrupted him. "Wait, wait a minute. You're from…" She then pointed toward the surface. "…up there?"

"Yeah."

The merhog blinked twice, she didn't know what to think. "That's impossible, you're a merhog. You can't survive up there for very long."

"Say what now?" That last statement sent a slight shiver down his spine. _What does she mean? Does she mean I can't breath up there like I can down here now? _

It was apparent that Marlina was trying to understand why Sonic had no idea what she was talking about. She realized the truth in his eyes. "You really _are _from up there. If you were from the ocean, you would know that." She then sighed and gently took Sonic's arm. "Come with me, it's too dangerous out here to be on your own and I think I know someone that can help. I can explain more on the way."

The merhog then swam forward and Sonic was pulled right along with her. "Whoa!"


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

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><p>"So let me get this straight, you've never been above the surface of the ocean? Not even a peek?"<p>

Marlina shook her head. "Nope. There's just no need to go up there. Plus, as I said before, it's not easy to breath and it's quite painful to be up there for too long. The light's too bright."

Sonic stopped swimming for a minute, well if you could even call it swimming. He still wasn't used to just using a fin to get around, it was very awkward to him. "Wait, how do know what's gonna happen to you if you never tried?"

The merhog stopped swimming as well, but it wasn't in the manner that Sonic had. It was more like she was remembering something more than shock. She glanced back at him, her voice was quiet and soft. "Because…I know someone that did."

Sonic's eyes widened at that response and he could see it in her eyes that it had to have been a traumatic experience for her to witness. He decided to try and change the subject. "So…how do you work this thing again?" Sonic asked as he gave his tail fin a strange look and gave it a flick to the side.

Marlina couldn't help but laugh. "Up and down behind you to move forward, up and down in front of you to move backward. Once you get that, the rest is easy."

"He he, thanks." Sonic smiled, knowing that his plan to change Marlina's mood worked. He then looked at his fin and took Marlina's advice and, although awkwardly, caught up with her. "Who is this guy we're gonna see again? Naughty-something?"

The female merhog laughed even more than her reaction to the Sonic's previous comment. "His name is Nautilus."

"Yeah, that guy."

"He's a philosopher. He knows all about-" Suddenly, Marlina's ears perked up. "No…swim."

"What? What is it?"

"Swim, just go now!" She grabbed Sonic's arm once again and then dragged him along. Sonic was so surprised by how fast she was. Once he figured out that she was trying to get them out of some dangerous situation that he still couldn't seem to pick up on, he started 'swimming' to help her along.

Suddenly, some strange creatures came in out of nowhere. They were swimming so fast, it was hard to tell what they were because the water was bending around them, making them appear to be nothing more than moving bullets in the ocean. Marlina was trying to find a way around them, dodging and weaving as they became more aggressive.

One of the swift moving creatures found their way in front of Marlina's path. It was then with his fast eyes that Sonic was able to see the creature clearly. It looked similar to a Mobian, in the way a water dwelling Mobian should look, only it was very different from Marlina. It was all black in color and seemed to flash bright white like a strobe light as it appeared in front of them. It didn't have a fin, but six tentacles with large single fins on the sides of two of them, each one on the opposite side of the other. It had two arms that were clawed. It's eyes were sinister and glowed an eerie blood red.

To Sonic's surprise, instead of plowing right into the creature, Marlina stopped and swam backward. It was like she was afraid to touch them. Before they knew it, they were surrounded.

"The Chironex…this isn't good." Marlina managed as she tried regain her composure.

Sonic didn't know what she was so worried about, "Heh, they don't look so tough." He said with a smirk.

"No Sonic, you don't understand…they're toxic." She whispered, hoping that they didn't hear her as well as hoped they didn't pay attention to Sonic's comment…they did.

"Big talk coming from a cornered merhog." One of the Chironex smirked, it's massive sinister grin revealed deadly looking fangs.

Another one of the Chironex reached out it's long arms to grab Marlina, but Sonic pulled her out of the way and planned to block the Chironex with his other hand. The hero quickly found out this wasn't a good idea. The instant the Chironex arm touched Sonic, pain flooded his arm.

"Gah!"

"Sonic!" Marlina yelled.

He tried to pull his arm loose, but the tentacle's grip was too strong and he couldn't break free. As Sonic flicked his tail fin in reaction to the sudden pain, he barely heard what sounded like a blade being unsheathed from a pocket knife. As another reaction to try and get away, Sonic swung his tail at the Chironex's face. To his surprise the edge of his tail fin had cut his attacker's eye.

"GAH! MY EYE!"

_**I **__did that? _Sonic was shocked, he had no idea his tail could be used as a weapon like that.

The Chironex lashed out in anger. "Why you-!"

Marlina wasn't about to let Sonic get hit again. She suddenly rushed in and swung her tail across the Chironex's face, repeating the same move that Sonic had done.

"GAH!"

Now seeing a way out, Marlina grabbed Sonic with both arms around his chest and then took off at swift speed right past the injured Chironex.

"What the hell are you gawking at? After them!" On his command, the Chironex all took off after Marlina, each one twisting their tentacles together to make a fin to propel themselves forward.

Marlina didn't look back, she didn't dare to for fear of slowing down. "They'll just catch up with us again at this rate. I'm not fast enough."

Sonic was starting feel the pain move into his chest now. He saw something below them for a split second and cringed as he tried to bring it to Marlina's attention. "Mar, ungh…down there!"

The female merhog allowed her eyes to follow Sonic's request and saw what he was talking about. Right below them was a coral reef. It looked almost like a labyrinth, with many different entrances and exits. She could loose them in there.

Without hesitation, the female merhog picked up the pace and dove downward, the Chironex followed right on her tail.

As soon as she was just a few feet from the coral wall, Marlina sharply turned to the left and then swiftly swam into one of the openings in the structure. The Chironex had no time to react and two of them crashed into the side of the coral reef. The other two followed Marlina straight into the reef itself.

The female merhog dodged and weaved effortlessly through each opening, zig-zagging back and forth making it difficult for the Chironex to follow. The Chironex may have been faster than her, but they couldn't turn on dime like she could. It was still proving difficult to evade them, it didn't matter how small the entrance ways in their path were, they still could squeeze through because of their squid-like structure.

Marlina found the exit and sped right through, not even slowing down and continued straight ahead. At least there was only two of them following her now.

Suddenly, another fast moving creature appeared in the distance. A voice yelled as it came closer. "Marlina, dive!"

She swiftly moved out the bright red blur's path as the it swam right by then plowed into one of the Chironex head on. As it stopped to attack the other one, it was now apparent what it was. It was a red merchidna. He was similar to Knuckles only his markings were very different. Reddish brown markings lined his spikes as well as around his eyes. His tail fin was reddish brown as well with white stripes.

Marlina recognized him and was relieved to see him. "Strike!"

"Go, Swim for it!" The merchidna shouted as he slammed his fist into the last Chironex's face and then swiftly swam toward her direction. As Marlina turned and swam away, Strike caught up to her. "Princess, are you alright?"

"Princess? Ugnh!" Sonic grabbed his chest in reaction to the sudden wave of pain.

"Sonic, don't move too much. The toxin will spread." Marlina warned with concern.

"Looks like it's already too late for that." Strike said as he noticed Sonic fading again. "We better get him to Nautilus' place."

"Didn't mention-ugnh-you're a princess."

"Not something I boast about when I'm swimming around in the open ocean by myself." Marlina answered. "Just keep still, we're almost there."

That was the last thing Sonic heard before he passed out and his vision faded into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

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><p>Sonic allowed a light groan to escape him as he started feeling himself coming back around. He opened his eyes, trying to focus his vision to see where he was. Bubbles floated from when he moved his arm to wipe his brow. As soon as he saw them he jolted awake, forgetting for a second out of habit that he was fine underwater. Unfortunately for him, his sudden movement ended with him head butting whoever it was that had been leaning over him when they found out he was waking up.<p>

"Ow!"

"Geez Kid, what the hell is in that head of yours?"

He then heard a voice that he recognized. "Sonic. It's okay, you're safe."

"Marlina?" He asked after he shook his head to try and clear it.

"Yeah, it's me." The female merhog answered as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, he's fine." Now that he was able to see clearly, Sonic could see who it was that he had collided with. It was another merhog, like Marlina, only he was older. His fur was a dark maroon and he had a black marking over his left eye in the shape of a spade. He also had additional black markings on his forehead that looked almost tiger like, which the pattern continued toward his spikes. His golden eyes had wisdom behind them. "Ugh, I'm gonna be feeling that one tomorrow."

"He he, sorry 'bout that old man." Sonic apologized when he realized he had probably gave the guy a concussion.

"Hey, I'm not that old." The old merhog defended as he raised one of his eyebrows.

"Sonic, this is Nautilus." Marlina introduced. "The philosopher."

"Marlina told me you have some questions for me, isn't that correct?"

"Yeah, a few." Sonic did his best to sit comfortably on the sea-bed, but still found moving his tail awkward as he positioned himself. "The first one is kinda long though."

"Well, I can tell you that you're not going anywhere for a while yet. You had too close of a call and I sincerely recommend you stay put at least until next high tide."

"Okay, wait. You just confused me. How long do I have to stay here? 'High tide' how long is that in days?"

"What's a 'day'?"

Sonic's eyes widened at Marlina's counter question. "Seriously?"

"A day is how surface dwellers tell time." Nautilus answered. "I apologize, Marlina explained to me that you might have come from the world beyond the surface. You're not one my usual patients."

Sonic raised one of his eyebrows. "So, you're like a doctor?"

"He knows everything there is to know about the world-well, the world of the ocean anyway."

The old merhog shrugged at Marlina's praise. "Well, not everything. I have traveled a lot in my youth however and I hear word from those that have to enter the surface world to breathe. They've seen more of the world than I have." Nautilus then sighed. "Anyway Sonic, to answer your previous question, high tide occurs twice per day in your terms. So the next high tide from now would be when the light just appears on the surface."

"Okay, so that would be sunrise for me."

Marlina looked at Sonic confused, she was trying to understand what he was talking about and was curious about it, but she was still lost. "Sunrise?"

"Oh, the 'light' you guys keep talking about, we call the sun where I come from. And when it rises in the sky, we call it sun-rise or morning."

Marlina thinks about what Sonic had said and she looked even more confused. "Sky?…um, yeah sorry. I don't what that is either."

Sonic face palmed himself. "This isn't working."

"Never mind that for now, I'll explain it later." Nautilus interrupted knowing that this was going to just keep going and they would get absolutely no where. "So Sonic, I have a question for you. You say you're from the surface, how did you survive? How did you get here?"

"Hmm…that's a tough one. I remember after I destroyed Eggman's Death Egg, I ran out of energy and fell back to Mobius from space. I blacked out as soon as I hit the ocean and when I woke up, I ended up with this." Sonic ended his explanation with an a slightly irritated look at his tail fin and flicked it to the side a little.

Marlina and Nautilus exchanged strange looks.

The female hedgehog then rolled her eyes. "Okay…I'm not even going to try and understand what you just said that time."

"Wait, lets break it down and see if we can find what happened here." The older merhog then turned to the blue merhog across from him. "Sonic, this Eggman, by your reaction to saying his name I take it he's an evil sort am I right?"

"You've never heard of-oh boy. Well that makes sense." Sonic rolled his eyes. He then let out a huge sigh. "Okay yes, he is."

"Okay, so we cleared that up. So it's safe to assume that this 'Death Egg' is a sinister source of his, like a minion or a creation."

"Yeah, he built it."

"Alright, now after you destroyed it, you said you tired and fell back to Mobius…from what I can recollect, Mobius is the name of the world of which both of our worlds reside."

"So, that's not mainstream for you guys?"

Nautilus shook his head. "No, many of us are only aware of the ocean itself not the world as a whole."

Sonic nodded. "Okay, that explains a lot."

Marlina couldn't help but butt in with Sonic's response. "What? I'm learning."

"Well it's fair. I mean I know as much about the ocean as you guys know about where I'm from. And for the same reasons."

"Interesting, so you're saying that your kind can't survive very long in the ocean? Just as we can't survive very long in your surface world?"

"Well, not without help anyway." Sonic answered.

"Hmm…okay, so back to the situation at hand. So you don't remember the event right before you entered our world? And you didn't have a fin before then?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nope and nope."

"Huh? Intriguing…how did you get around if I may ask?"

"Heh, I run."

"What?"

"Yeah, it's kinda hard to explain. We don't have fins where I'm from, we have legs, feet, two of em."

"Hmm…"

"I already lost you, didn't I?" Sonic almost laughed.

"I'm trying to get my head around it." Nautilus said as he pondered.

Marlina couldn't help but laugh. "Nice work, you actually put the smartest merhog in the ocean in a tough spot."

Sonic laughed right along with her at her response.

"Okay, okay, so the fact the of the matter is that a significant change occurred when you entered our world."

"Do you know what could've happened to him?" Marlina asked.

"Hmm…I…can't say that I have an idea. Without full visual knowledge of his world, it's hard for me to figure out what could have occurred or if there were natural or unnatural forces at play here. Sorry Sonic."

"Eh, it's alright." Sonic then glanced around the room, just now realizing that someone was missing. "So, where'd that other guy get to?"

"Other guy?…" Marlina thought for a minute, then realized who Sonic meant. "Oh, Strike."

"He went out in search of Marlina's husband."

Sonic's eyes widened for a second. He blinked a few times as he remembered something. "Wait a minute. Mar, not only are you princess, but you're married?"

"Again, not something to mention when you're out in the middle of the ocean." Marlina replied.

"What? Um hello, if I would've known you were _looking_ for him out there, I would've helped you."

"Sure, right. What would you have done? You couldn't even swim. Besides you were lost."

As the two merhogs continued to argue, Nautilus face palmed himself.

"Well, usually someone who's married doesn't go around kissing people!"

"I told you, 'I thought you were someone else'!"

Thinking that this has gone on long enough, Nautilus whistled, which caught both the merhogs' attention. "Would you both stop it? I mean listen to yourselves, you're acting like bunch of guppies."

Both of the previously bickering merhogs looked away from each other for a second. Their eyes then drifted back toward one another, each one wondering whether or not they should apologize in the risk of starting another argument.

Sonic spoke first. "Look, I'm sorry. The old man's right, we shouldn't be arguing about this." Sonic then corrected himself after catching sight of Nautilus' glare. "No offense."

"You're right." Marlina sighed.

"See there you go, much better." Nautilus said with a satisfied smile.

"So, looking for your man, where do we start?"

Marlina was surprised by Sonic volunteering. "You really want to help-wait a minute, you're not going anywhere until high tide."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I know, I know." He then gave her a confident smirk. "You saved me, so of course I'm gonna help ya."

"Sonic…what about you getting back home?"

"That can wait. So, what's his name?"

"Fathom." Nautilus answered. "He's my son. You look a lot like him surprisingly."

"Hmm, he looks like me huh?" Sonic raised an eyebrow as he thought out loud. "Wait, you're Mar's father-in-law?"

Nautilus nodded. "That's right."

"I just hope he's okay." Marlina muttered as she looked toward the entrance.

"He's tough. Like Strike, he knows how to handle himself out there." Nautilus reassured.

"I know, I'm still worried about him, can you blame me?"

"Hey, don't worry Mar. If Strike doesn't find him, we will."

The female merhog looked at Sonic, her ears raised but only a little. "How can you be sure?"

Sonic then gave her a smirk. "Cuz I don't quit." He then gave her reassuring look. "You need to try and think positive."

"It's dangerous getting your hopes up like that." Marlina muttered under her breath.

Sonic blinked. "Wow, you sound a lot like a hedgehog I know back home." He said as he remembered Shadow. "That's true, there is a fear of getting hurt when you hope for something that's too far out of reach. But if you shoot that hope down before you get the chance to try, you'll never reach it."

"Sonic…" Feeling her worrying mentality subsiding, Marlina nodded. "Right, it's settled then. At high tide, we'll catch up with Strike and look for Fathom-as well as look for clues of what happened to you."

"Might not have to look far for the answer to both of those mysteries." Nautilus interrupted as he thought out loud. "Sonic arriving here and Fathom's disappearance happened close to the same time, so it could be possible that the two incidents are connected."

"Maybe." Sonic thought. That did strike him as a bit odd.

"You two should rest for now, you'll have a long journey ahead of you. I'll keep watch for Strike when he returns."

"Yeah, good idea." Marlina nodded.

Seeing both of the merhogs' looks, Sonic got the message. "Okay, okay, I got it. That goes for me too. Like I haven't heard that one before."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile...<p>

"Ugh…where…am I?" As his vision began to return to him, he moved his hand and was shocked when it hit something that looked invisible. "What?"

He then looked down and when he saw his legs, it took his breath away. "AHH!"

"Are…Are you okay, Mister?"

The stranger in question looked toward where the soft whisper came from. Through the glass he could see the young rabbit, holding onto a Chao.

"I'm not sure if I'm dreaming right now." The strange hedgehog looked at his legs again with slight confusion.

"No, you're awake." The girl answered.

"Chao." The little creature in her arms piped.

The stranger focused his vision and could see that the girl was in the same kind of barrier he was in, only there was no water in hers at all. He wondered why, but that didn't last too long. When he realized that she was scared, he forgot about his own problems.

Through his breathing mask, he gave her a smile. "The name's Fathom, what's yours?"

"Cream…and this is Cheese"

"Chao."

"Well, I'm honored to meet you both."

Cream then smiled a little at Fathom, he did look similar to Sonic, but the way how he spoke was very different. Also unlike Sonic, had black tips on his spikes.

Fathom looked around the strange room from the confines of his equally as strange prison. "So, where are we?"

"One of Eggman's bad places, that's all I know. I'm sorry."

"No no, it's okay. That's more than I knew." He then became confused as he tried to figure out what Cream said. "Egg-man…what's an Eggman?"

"You never heard of him?" The rabbit said still in her soft tone, but it was obvious that she was shocked that this guy had no idea who one of the greatest villains of all time was.

Fathom shook his head lightly. "No."

Suddenly, a strange sound drew Fathom's attention toward the far end of the room. The wall had opened up, allowing a strange figure to appear. The blue hedgehog saw Cream's reaction to this intruder. Her eyes widened and she held tightly to Cheese for comfort, who in turn, growled at the thing.

_Could this be the Egg-man she was talking about?_ Fathom thought.

"Ah so you're finally awake, Sonic." The mustached man spoke as he entered the room. Fathom was beginning to feel in his instincts that this stranger was sinister. The man's dark glasses hid his eyes, which gave Fathom the sense of an untrustworthy being.

"B-but Mr. Eggman, that's not-"

"Quiet!"

Cream closed her eyes and cringed when Eggman yelled at her.

"Hey!"

Eggman's attention was drawn toward where the voice had come from.

Fathom's emerald eyes narrowed. "Don't speak to her that way, she's just a child."

The man's look turned slightly confused by the hedgehog's unfamiliar tone. He then walked closer to the tank. As he approached, the hedgehog began to stare him down, in a similar way that his nemesis would, but it was different. Eggman gave him an untrusting glare. "Who are you?"

"You don't need to know who I am. What _you_ need to do, is let the girl go."

"And why on Mobius would I do that?"

"Because, if you don't, then I will."

The man's belly jiggled as he laughed. "OH HOHOHOHO! And what are you going to do? I might have no idea who you are, but there's no way that you could-"

Suddenly, the hedgehog in the tank took off his breathing mask.

Eggman was confused by this action. "Hmm?"

The hedgehog then spun and dug his quills into the glass.

"That won't work. The glass was built to keep Sonic in. Foolish hedgehog, you sealed your own fate."

The water in the tank began to spin as well and slash at the glass, cracking it.

"WHA! That's…Impossible!"

The glass cracked even more as pressure in the tank increased.

_With the amount of pressure he's building in there to even scratch the glass, he should be dead!_ The distressed scientist thought as he took a few steps back.

Finally, the glass couldn't stand anymore and shattered. The water from the tank came out like a tidal wave and blew the living chainsaw into Cream's glass dome, which shattered on impact. As the water rushed in, Fathom grabbed her and then allowed the intense wave to carry them out of the room, onto what looked to be the deck of a ship and then over the edge and into the ocean below.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4_**

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><p>As soon as the hedgehog hit the water, he tried to breath in out of instinct. However, he quickly realized that the feeling he got when the water had entered his lungs wasn't normal. Feeling the strain in his chest he quickly went against his natural instinct to stay under the water and quickly rushed to the surface, dragging Cream along with him.<p>

The two Mobians broke the surface of the water to meet the strange blue creature circling over head. "Chao!"

Cream was able to hold her breath while under the water and as soon as she surfaced, took in a deep gasping breath. But Fathom had only managed to get the young rabbit to the surface before starting to sink below the waves.

"Mister Fathom!" Cream yelled before she dove down after him. She then pulled him up and flew out of the water. Luckily for them, Emerald Coast's shoreline wasn't too far on the horizon.

On the shore of the Emerald Coast were a familiar trio of Mobians.

"Are you sure this place is ideal to begin our investigation?" The chameleon asked as he looked to the crocodile next to him.

"Of course it is." The crocodile answered with boasting confidence. "What kid wouldn't go to the beach?"

"The beach, Yay!" The bee yelled as he took off ahead of his two comrades.

The crocodile then gave the chameleon a slightly annoyed look at the bee's behavior. "See what I mean?" He then took off after the flying bee. "Charmy, get back here! We're working not making sand castles!"

"Hey! Vector, what's that?" Charmy shouted back as he looked out toward the ocean.

Both of his comrades looked out toward the ocean. "What, I don't see anything." Vector commented.

"It's waaaaay out there!" The bee yelled as he pointed out toward what looked to be a speck.

The chameleon focused his vision and could make out two familiar shapes peaking over the waves. "Vector, it's Cream and Sonic."

"What?" The crocodile looked back and forth between Espio and the water. "You sure?"

"Positive." Espio then took off toward the water.

"Charmy, fly over there and see if they need help!" Vector shouted as he tried to catch up to the chameleon, who had already jumped into the water and started swimming.

"Got it, boss." The bee saluted and then took off over the ocean, almost running into Cheese the Chao in the process.

"Chao!" Cheese yelled back at the bee in frustration.

"Charmy!" Cream shouted as she tried keep herself and Fathom above the water. She had become tired while flying.

"Hang on, Cream! We're comin'!" Vector shouted as he picked up his swimming pace, Espio was still ahead of him.

The Chaotix team successfully got to Cream and Fathom and safely brought them back to shore.

Wasting no time, Espio checked to see if the hedgehog was breathing. Realizing that he wasn't, the chameleon quickly pushed his hands into the hedgehog's chest. As soon as he did this, Fathom coughed up the water and took in a gasping breath, desperate to get air. Now that he got a closer look at the hedgehog, Espio realized that this wasn't who they thought he was.

"Mister Fathom, are you okay?" The young rabbit spoke in her soft tone, followed by her Chao's pipe.

"*cough* …yeah…I…*cough* *cough*…think so…" Fathom managed.

He then noticed the three two legged creatures close to them. Not knowing of their intentions, he rolled out of their reach and supported himself on his knees, a low growl escaped his breath.

"No, it's okay. They're friends." Cream reassured him.

Fathom's protective persona slowly faded as he raised one of his eyebrows in her direction.

"Wow, Sonic. You must've hit you're head pretty hard."

Expio face palmed himself at the crocodile's deduction. "Vector, he's not Sonic."

"Yeah…everyone keeps calling me that…who is he?"

The three Mobians looked shockingly at each other.

Then Charmy interrupted the brief silence, per usual. "What? You don't know who Sonic is?"

"Again, must have one of those head trauma things or somethin'." Vector said as he took his index finger and made the sign that he thought this guy must be crazy.

"Never heard of him." Fathom shot Vector a light glare as he ignored the crocodile's comment on purpose.

The crocodile coughed. "*cough* amnesia *cough*"

Espio rolled his eyes and shook his head back and forth. "So, Fathom was it?"

"Yeah."

"What were you and Cream doing out in the ocean?"

Fathom gave the chameleon a slightly strange look. "I'm…not sure how to describe that."

Then Cream came in and began to explain what happened. "Well, Mr. Espio. You see, Eggman took Cheese and I to his ship. Mr. Fathom was already there so I don't know where he was before then, but he was trapped just like we were."

The Chao nodded and interrupted with a little pipe.

Cream continued. "But then he freed himself and got us all out."

"Hmm…is that right?" Espio asked, his voice sounded a little intrigued, but his expression always remained the same. "Well then, Fathom. It seems we have you to thank for rescuing her-"

"And doing our job." Vector muttered in a not so thrilled tone.

"Where you were leading us, we would never had found her." Espio plainly stated.

"What?" The crocodile then swiftly turned to the chameleon, who wasn't fazed at all by his glare or loud yelling. "If I didn't lead us here, we never would've been here to save them!"

"Like you really could've predicted that?"

While Vector and Espio argued, which most of the noise was Vector and all Espio's comments were strategic whispers, Fathom looked to the rabbit beside him. "Are they always like this?"

"Um…sometimes." Cream answered.

Realizing that this argument wasn't going to die down anytime soon, Fathom interrupted. "Excuse me!"

Both the chameleon and the crocodile turned to him.

"Yeah, whadda ya want?" Vector shouted.

"Well, it appears that I can't get back home. Do you know of a place I can stay so I can figure this out?"

The trio blinked and looked at each other.

"Okay…definitely, _not_ Sonic." Vector voiced.

"We'll figure something out after we take Cream back home." Espio answered. "Her mother is worried about her."

"That's fine… Um…" Fathom looked around, slightly confused. "How do we get there?"

"Well, it's not that long of a walk." Vector said.

"Yeah, just follow us." Charmy said cheerfully as he took off ahead of his comrades yet again.

The other two started walking in the same direction.

Watching the way they walked and figured that was how these beings got around in the surface world, Fathom tried to stand. But he had no balance and fell over. "Omph!"

"Mister Fathom!" Cream yelled.

"I'm alright." Fathom said quickly, like it was more out of habit than anything.

The Chaotix team turned around and saw Fathom. "Dude, what happened?" Vector asked raising one of his eyebrows.

"I can't do…what ever it is you're doing."

Again, the trio blinked and looked at each other.

"You mean walk?" Espio asked bluntly.

"If that's what you call it."

"What's that suppose ta mean, punk?" Vector yelled instantly taking Fathom's comment as an insult.

"Hold on Vector." Espio interrupted.

"But he said-"

"I know shh." Espio interrupted him again as he processed what Fathom meant. The chameleon then walked up closer to the hedgehog. "…where are you from, exactly?"

"The ocean, where else." Fathom answered as if it was a matter of fact.

"*cough* Nut Job *cough*" Vector coughed in the background.

"Oh come on, walkin's easy." Charmy said as he hovered toward the hedgehog.

"If it's so easy, then why aren't you doing it?" Fathom asked raising one of his eyebrows.

The bee suddenly landed and paced back and forth. "See?"

"We're going to have to find someone that can help us figure this out." Espio said as he pondered, ignoring Charmy's usual antics.

"And I know just the guy."

Everyone shot Vector a confusing look.

* * *

><p>It was now high tide, and Sonic was more than ready to go. He was never one to stay put for too long. "Are you guys ready yet?"<p>

"Just hold on, Sonic." Marlina hollered for him to hear. "I have to make sure we have what we need."

"Typical, what is up with women and preparing for everything?" Sonic shook his head back and forth.

His gaze was suddenly met by Marlina's light glare. "Well when we run into the Chironex again and one of us gets hurt, they would be dead before we get back here. So, what do you have to say about my _preparing_ now?"

"Right, carry on." Sonic said quickly. There was just something eerily familiar about the way that she spoke to him in that moment that almost made him shiver. That's when he realized. _Yikes, she's almost like…Amy._

Just then, Strike swam in. "It looks clear so far. But we must make haste."

"I know, I tried to tell her." Sonic said loud enough for Marlina to hear.

"I'm almost done." She yelled back.

"Oh, come on." The blue merhog sighed.

"One thing you never do…is rush the princess." Strike whispered.

"Now you tell me." Sonic said as he rolled his eyes.

"Alright, we're done. Happy now?" Marlina said with a slightly annoyed tone.

"Yes, thank you." Sonic countered with a smirk.

Nautilus swam out of the den and called Strike aside. "Strike, I wish to speak with you before you go."

"Ugh." Sonic sighed annoyed. "Alright, lets go Mar. Strike can catch up."

Seeing the blue merhog take off, Marlina followed. "Sonic, wait up!"

Nautilus chuckled. "He acts just like him."

"So, what is it Sir." Strike asked.

"I know it is your sworn duty to protect Marlina…but given the circumstances, I think it would be best if you looked after Sonic as well."

"But Sir, he's-"

"What is occurring is more than neither of us can comprehend. This merhog has no idea of the dangers that lie ahead, nor does he have the knowledge of how to deal with those dangers. I'm counting on you to defend the both of them, Strike…Can you do that?"

The merchidna nodded. "Yes Sir."

"Good. Now you better catch up. It looks as though our new friend is getting the hang of his fin."

"Hey! I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Sonic said as he sped up his swimming pace.

Suddenly, Marlina yelled. "Sonic! Watch out for the-!"

Wham!

"…rock wall."

"Ow…"

Nautilus looks to Strike. "Okay…maybe not."


	5. Chapter 5

And I'm back ^^; I'm so Sorry that it took so long for me to update, well ANYTHING -_-; Life's been a little crazy and the worst case of writer's block I've ever dealt with. But that's past. Hopefully this means I've kicked it and can get these chapters, as well as chapters from my other stories, going again.

Anyway, here's the next chapter to Deep Sea Sonic. Enjoy :D

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 5<strong>_

* * *

><p>The merchidna shook his head back and forth. "No, no, you're completely off."<p>

"What? Really?" The blue merhog gave Strike a confused look.

"Yes really. You look like you're trying to swim like a drunk shark."

"Strike!"

"Princess, I apologize. But we've been at this for nearly a tide and he still doesn't seem to get it."

"Hey, I'm trying here. Swimming isn't normally my thing." Sonic defended.

The two were obviously frustrated. Strike was a member of the royal guard, it felt degrading to him to teach something to someone that a child could learn naturally. Sonic was trying to get what Strike was teaching him, but it was all negative. Sure, Marlina said that he was getting closer, but Strike might as well have been the drill instructor from hell in Sonic's current circumstance. The red merchidna might as well have been telling Sonic to sprout wings and fly.

"Look guys, you're both frustrated. Let's just move forward and we'll work on the training again when we stop, okay?"

"With all due respect Princess, if we do continue like this, Sonic will attract every predator in five knots."

"Strike, your yelling and arguing is more likely to give us away than Sonic's swimming."

Sonic crossed his arms and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you heard the Princess, Red. Take it down a notch."

Doing his best to ignore Sonic's comment, the merchidna growled under his breath and turned to Marlina. "Fine, why don't _you_ try then. I'll scout ahead." With that, Strike took off at blinding speed.

Marlina turned to Sonic. "Strike is right too though."

The blue merhog raised one of his eyebrows. "What, that I swim like a drunk shark?"

"What? No, not that. But if we don't figure out how to help you swim quieter, we might actually have to fight a shark…or worse."

"Heh, now that sounds like fun."

"Sonic, this is serious."

"Okay, okay. Just trying to lighten things up a little, you know."

"Well, I appreciate that. But here in the ocean, it's best to be cautious than to look for a fight. Now, lets see if we can figure out what's going on with your swimming style here. The first thing to remember is your tail has a lot more power than you estimate."

The female merhog demonstrated as she just flicked her tail downward and swiftly moved forward. "It doesn't take much to get you going. It's not about moving your tail faster, it's about using currents and the water around you to your advantage. Now, give it a try."

Sonic took a deep breath and then flicked his tail. He then took off and swam forward. "How was that?"

Marlina's ears were pressed against her head, but then flicked forward when Sonic stopped swimming. She then shook her head back and forth. "Nope, still too loud."

The blue merhog raised an eyebrow, confused. "I don't get what you're talking about, I don't hear anything."

The female merhog laughed a little. "That's because you're the one that's moving. The reason why you don't hear Strike and I when we swim is because we know how to keep our waves down."

Noticing Sonic's confused look, Marlina thought of a different approach. "Maybe I should just show you what I mean."

The merhog suddenly thrashed her tail and a sound wave hit Sonic dead on. It was so loud, Sonic had no choice but cover his ears. "Gah! Okay, okay, I get it!"

"Sorry." The princess apologized.

"No, no it's cool." Sonic answered as he tried to unplug his ear. "I see your point now. So, that's what you guys hear when I'm swimming?"

"Well, it's not that bad. But any kind of sound can be heard or felt by other ocean dwellers from a good distance."

"So, how do I know if I'm doing this right?"

The female merhog swam up to Sonic. "It should feel natural to you. The ocean shouldn't push against you, but part _for_ you. You should be able to move through the ocean as easily as a wave or current."

"I think I kind of get what you're saying. One sec." The blue merhog then flicked his tail lightly and then took off.

"That's it, Sonic you got it!" Marlina quickly caught up with the blue merhog. "Alright, now follow me."

The female merhog swam on ahead and Sonic attempted to follow. He was actually surprised at how easy it was. It was almost the same rush when he ran at super-sonic speed through Green Hill for the first time, only it was whole new experience.

The water that was pushing against him was now working with him, the waves in the current parting for him.

_It…almost feels like the wind._

Once he put that together, it seemed to come natural to him. He picked up speed, passing by Marlina so fast that he almost looked like an underwater current himself.

Marlina watched, surprised. "What the-"

Sonic then started to corkscrew, but it wasn't of his free will. It was the natural way the water was trying to bend around him. "Whoa!"

The inexperienced merhog soon found himself tangled in some nearby kelp. "What? Hey come on!"

Marlina couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, laugh it up _Princess!"_ Sonic shot back, slightly annoyed as he tried to free himself.

* * *

><p>At a hotel at Station Square, a twin tailed fox paced back and forth by the pool. It was one of many places that he would rendezvous with Sonic. It had seemed like a good idea to come here at the time…but now, he wasn't so sure. He couldn't help but look out to the ocean from where he stopped pacing. The fox had tried everything he could to find his friend after he disappeared two days ago after fighting Eggman…but he found nothing, not a single trace of him.<p>

The fox sighed as he thought. _Sonic…wherever you are…I hope you're okay._

The Chaotix had called him earlier and he was told to leave his workshop and come to Station Square right away. It sounded urgent, and with Sonic nowhere to be found, it was up to Tails to find out what was going on.

Suddenly, he heard the door from the hotel open and he looked over his shoulder. He recognized the figure right away. "Espio, what happened? Did you find Sonic?"

The chameleon glanced behind him and spoke in a slightly awkward tone that Tails wasn't used to hearing from him. "Not…exactly…"

Behind Espio was Vector…carrying a blue hedgehog under one arm.

The hedgehog didn't look very amused by his current predicament and sarcasm rang in his voice as he muttered. "Yeah, this isn't awkward at all."

Tails was a little confused. The hedgehog looked like his friend, but it was apparent that there were key differences about him. Differences that, having considered Sonic more of a brother, he noticed right off the bat. "Sonic?"

The hedgehog rolled his eyes. "Aaand there we go again. Ugh, what did I ever do to deserve this?"

"He's not Sonic." Espio added.

Vector glanced at the hedgehog he was carrying. "Personally, I think his brain might be a bit broken."

That said hedgehog raised one of his eyebrows in an annoyed manner. "Really? Can you just put me down?"

The crocodile released the hedgehog…only to have him hit the ground face first with a thud. "Omph! Okay…not exactly what I meant."

"You do look a lot like him." The young fox observed. "I mean literally, the fur color's the same and everything, aside from the black tips. You do sound different too though."

The hedgehog pushed himself up into a sitting position and gave his head a light shake to regain focus. "Yeah, so I've been told."

"Okay…so…what's your name then?" Tails asked, trying not to sound awkward, but it was already an awkward situation.

"Fathom."

"Well, pleasure meeting you Fathom. I'm Miles Prower, but you can just call me 'Tails'. So where are you from?"

"The ocean." Fathom answered.

Slightly stunned by his answer, Tails looked to the Chaotix. "…And that didn't tell you that he wasn't Sonic, really?"

"What? I thought the guy hit his head too hard or something." Vector defended.

The hedgehog on the ground mumbled as he sat himself up and dusted himself off. "I think someone should hit your head hard or something."

Vector growled. "Watch it, punk."

That 'punk' turned and snapped at the crocodile. "For the hundredth time, it's Fathom. You really don't listen too well, do you?"

"Guys, guys, stop. Arguing isn't going to solve anything." Tails reasoned.

Suddenly, the guys heard a voice that, since they were all distracted, made them all jump.

"SONIC!"

As the blue hedgehog turned to look at who shrieked, something ran into him and knocked him to the floor. "Omph!"

Fathom pushed himself back up, supporting himself on one of his elbows. He rubbed the back of his head, trying to regain focus again. He looked at who it was that tackled him and was shocked to see that it was a pink female hedgehog.

The girl hedgehog held onto his torso tightly, nuzzling him and nearly on the brink of tears. "Oh Sonic, I was so worried when you weren't at Tails' workshop after fighting Eggman."

Realizing something, she then looked directly at him, her look changed from relief to almost angered at the drop of a hat. "Wait a minute…Where did you go after that? Were you ignoring me?"

Fathom tried to struggle against her grip. "Miss-Uhmn, with all due respect-I'm not who you think-Chaos, Marlina would kill me if-"

The female's eyes creased forward. "Who the hell is Marlina?"

The blue hedgehog gave her a look, his eyebrow raising slightly as he answered. "Uhh…my wife."

"Your What?!"

Tails nearly jumped at Amy's sudden reaction "…That could've gone better."

Then, at his own risk, the fox took a few steps toward the angry pink hedgehog. "Amy, he's not Sonic."

"Of course he is, what do you think I'm blind?"

_Sometimes I wonder._ Tails thought as he remembered all the times that Amy had mistaken someone else for Sonic.

The fox then spoke. "Amy, I'm serious. Take another look, it's not him."

The female hedgehog blinked and looked at the blue hedgehog in front of her. True, his fur color was the same, and though he had black tips on his quills, it wouldn't be hard for the hedgehog to die his quills. The eyes were the same brilliant emerald green, but the way he looked at her was completely different. It was apparent that this blue hedgehog, didn't recognize her at all.

Her eyes widened. "You're right…" She then moved away from him. "It's not."

This allowed Fathom to sit up, but his eyes still met hers as he saw the sadness and disappointment within them.

Tails gave a look of sympathy. "Sorry Amy."

"Then…where is he?" The female hedgehog asked with a slight desperate tone.

The fox didn't know how to tell her, but he knew he had to tell her the truth. He closed his eyes tightly. "I-I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You checked everywhere, right?"

Tails answered her, trying to hide how upset he was that he couldn't find Sonic, but his voice betrayed him. "Yes, but I couldn't find him anywhere."

It became obvious to Fathom that this Sonic, whoever he was, was very important to these two, especially to the pink land dweller called Amy. He couldn't help but think that his Marlina must be going through the same thing, unsure of whether or not the one she loved was alive…or dead.

The blue hedgehog's eyes became soft, he allowed a sigh to escape him, and he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Both Tails and Amy looked to him with equally shocked looks. "Huh?"

Fathom then elaborated, moving his gaze in their direction. "I'm sorry I'm not the one you're looking for…It's obvious he means a lot to you."

Without a word, the pink hedgehog gave a sad nod, she wasn't sure where Fathom was getting at.

"Amy, I promise you, I'll do my best to help you and your friends find him."

Amy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Here was this stranger, a guy that really had no reason to help them, and he just offered? "…R-Really?"

Fathom nodded. "Yes, you have my word."

Tears formed in her eyes and she suddenly embraced him again, but this time for a different reason. "Thank you…Chaos, thank you…"

"My, my, my, how touching."

It didn't take long for anyone in that group to figure out whose voice that was. At the same time, they all looked to see the familiar mad doctor.

"Eggman!"

Fathom growled at the sight of him, but even though he didn't show it, he couldn't help but feel intimidated by what the evil man was controlling. It was complex, large, a strange metallic creature. It's "eyes" glowed brightly and it was noisy when it moved. Like the other land dwellers, the creature stood on two legs and it two arms, only they were massive. In fact, the whole thing was massive. It towered over the hotel behind them.

The mad doctor laughed at Fathom's reaction. "Oh yes. You didn't think that you could get away from me that easily, did you?"

* * *

><p>Author's note: And Eggy's back...what a surprise. -_-;<p>

So how will this go down? Find out in the next Chapter ^^


End file.
